A new era we embrace A brighter future we create

The year 2017 coincided with the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the Motherland and the inauguration of the Fifth-term Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It was also another fruitful year for the Immigration Department. With the solid and sound foundations established over the years, we made sustained efforts to provide quality services for the public and visitors by overcoming numerous difficulties. I am pleased to share with you the Department’s achievements during the past year.

To support the national Belt and Road Initiative, we have actively considered relaxing the visa policy for nationals of countries along the Belt and Road. For instance, to foster economic and trade co-operation and enhance personnel exchanges between Hong Kong and Cambodia, nationals of Cambodia may, with effect from March 2017, apply to enter Hong Kong for employment, investment, training or study. In the same year, Hong Kong and Belarus also worked out a mutual visa-free visit arrangement which came into effect in February 2018, facilitating mutual visits between personnel of the two places. Besides, the Department launched various admission schemes to allow Hong Kong to sustain its advantage in the global competition for talent and seize the opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative as well as Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development.

With the social and economic development of Hong Kong, more and more Hong Kong people go abroad for work or leisure. The Department is committed to providing greater travel convenience for HKSAR Passport holders. As at the end of March 2018, a total of 162 countries and territories have granted visa-free access or visa-on-arrival to HKSAR Passport holders. In November 2017, an Immigration Division was set up under the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Wuhan in addition to four other Immigration Divisions of the Mainland Offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou to provide faster and more comprehensive support for Hong Kong residents in distress in the Mainland. Meanwhile, the Department has been working closely with relevant Mainland and overseas authorities and other government departments in Hong Kong to provide practical assistance for Hong Kong residents in distress outside Hong Kong. In 2017, we handled a total of 3,311 requests for assistance.

Hong Kong is an international trade and tourism hub with heavy passenger flow. The number of passengers passing through our control points increased from around 100 million in 1997 to nearly 300 million in 2017. In order to cope with the ever-increasing passenger flow and further enhance the passenger handling capacity of control points, brand-new self-service departure for visitors to Hong Kong (Smart Departure) was launched in 2017. With the adoption of facial recognition technology for identity verification, eligible visitors holding valid electronic travel documents may perform self-service departure clearance through Smart Departure e-Channels without prior enrolment. In addition, with the successive completion of the three new cross-boundary control points at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link West Kowloon Station and Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai, the overall passenger handling capacity of control points can be further enhanced.

While providing facilitation for inbound and outbound Hong Kong residents and visitors, we always keep vigilant against visitors with doubtful purposes of visit from entering Hong Kong and proactively combat immigration-related crimes, so that Hong Kong can remain as an internationally renowned safe city. During the year, we provided active support for the review of the strategy for handling non-refoulement claims and took various enhancement measures, including the implementation of Pre-arrival Registration for Indian Nationals with effect from January 2017 to provide travel convenience for genuine visitors to Hong Kong on one hand, and prevent doubtful visitors from exploiting the existing visa-free arrangement to enter Hong Kong and engage in illicit activities on the other. Moreover, we maintained close liaison and intelligence exchanges with the local law enforcement agencies and our Mainland counterparts for joint efforts in combating the smuggling of non-ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants (IIs) to Hong Kong at source. In respect of the screening procedure for non-refoulement claims, we introduced various measures under the existing legal framework to enhance the procedure and optimise the use of resources so as to expedite the screening process. As at the end of 2017, the total number of claims pending screening was 5,899, a substantial decrease of 41% as compared to that as at the end of 2016, showing that the enhancement measures have achieved prominent results. Over the past year, we had spare no efforts to expedite the removal of unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants from Hong Kong. In December 2017, we hired a chartered flight to repatriate 68 Vietnamese IIs in one go, hence further enhancing our effectiveness in removing unsuccessful claimants.

Our work is closely related to the daily life of the general public. Following the replacement of smart Hong Kong Identity Cards for all Hong Kong residents in 2003, we will launch a territory-wide identity card replacement exercise in end-2018 during which residents will be invited in phases to have their existing identity cards replaced with the next generation smart identity cards made of more durable materials and embedded with more sophisticated security features. A number of facilitation measures will be adopted in this replacement exercise. For example, members of the public will be allowed to bring along their family members or friends aged 65 or above for card replacement in the same trip. On-site identity card replacement service will also be introduced for the first time at residential care homes for elderly persons and persons with disabilities. Meanwhile, to streamline the whole application process and shorten the time for replacement, more self-service measures will be introduced for registration and collection of identity cards. They include the provision of appointment booking and form-prefilling services through the Internet or a mobile application, and the installation of self-service registration and self-service collection kiosks.

Our staff have been striving to provide services of the highest quality for the community and always treat the public with courtesy and compassion. Our performance has earned wide recognition from the government and the public at large. In the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2017, we were awarded the Team Award (Crisis/Incident Support Service) Silver Prize, the Team Award (General Public Service) Bronze Prize and the Special Citation (Integrity Management) in recognition of our continuous efforts in providing quality services and in integrity management. In addition, two members of the Department received the Ombudsman’s Awards for Officers of Public Organisations while another six were commended in the Secretary for the Civil Service’s Commendation Award.

Our achievements last year owe much to the concerted efforts of each and every colleague and their professionalism in serving the community with full commitment. To support the sustained social and economic development of Hong Kong and to provide the public with better services, the Department is to shoulder heavy responsibilities in the days to come. Despite the difficulties and challenges ahead, all staff of the Department will continue to uphold professionalism in pursuit of excellence and strive for being the foremost immigration service in the world in effectiveness and efficiency.

Tsang Kwok-wai, Erick
I.D.S.M.
Director of Immigration